Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and cross-variant neutralization capacity after the Omicron BA.2 wave in Geneva, Switzerland: a population-based study
Authors: María-Eugenia Zaballa, Javier Perez-Saez, Carlos de Mestral, Nick Pullen, Julien Lamour, Priscilla Turelli, Charlène Raclot, Hélène Baysson, Francesco Pennacchio, Jennifer Villers, Julien Duc, Viviane Richard, Roxane Dumont, Claire Semaani, Andrea Jutta Loizeau, Clément Graindorge, Elsa Lorthe, Jean-François Balavoine, Didier Pittet, Manuel Schibler, Nicolas Vuilleumier, François Chappuis, Omar Kherad, Andrew S. Azman, Klara M. Posfay-Barbe, Laurent Kaiser, Didier Trono, Silvia Stringhini, Idris Guessous, Isabelle Arm-Vernez, Andrew S Azman, Delphine Bachmann, Antoine Bal, Jean-François Balavoine, Michael Balavoine, Rémy P Barbe, Hélène Baysson, Lison Beigbeder, Julie Berthelot, Patrick Bleich, Livia Boehm, Gaëlle Bryand, François Chappuis, Prune Collombet, Sophie Coudurier-Boeuf, Delphine Courvoisier, Alain Cudet, Vladimir Davidovic, Carlos de Mestral, Paola D'ippolito, Richard Dubos, Roxane Dumont, Isabella Eckerle, Nacira El Merjani, Antoine Flahault, Natalie Francioli, Marion Frangville, Clément Graindorge, Idris Guessous, Séverine Harnal, Samia Hurst, Laurent Kaiser, Omar Kherad, Julien Lamour, Pierre Lescuyer, Arnaud G L'Huillier, François L'Huissier, Andrea Jutta Loizeau, Elsa Lorthe, Chantal Martinez, Lucie Ménard, Ludovic Metral-Boffod, Alexandre Moulin, Mayssam Nehme, Natacha Noël, Francesco Pennacchio, Javier Perez-Saez, Didier Pittet, Klara M Posfay-Barbe, Géraldine Poulain, Caroline Pugin, Nick Pullen, Viviane Richard, Frederic Rinaldi, Déborah Rochat, Irine Sakvarelidze, Khadija Samir, Hugo Santa Ramirez, Etienne Satin, Philippe Schaller, Manuel Schibler, Stephanie Schrempft, Claire Semaani, Silvia Stringhini, Stéphanie Testini, Didier Trono, Déborah Urrutia-Rivas, Charlotte Verolet, Pauline Vetter, Jennifer Villers, Guillemette Violot, Nicolas Vuilleumier, Ania Wisniak, Sabine Yerly, María-Eugenia Zaballa
Journal: The Lancet Regional Health - Europe (2022)

More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the population has developed anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from infection and/or vaccination. However, public health decision-making is hindered by the lack of up-to-date and precise characterization of the immune landscape in the population. Here, we estimated anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies seroprevalence and cross-variant neutralization capacity after Omicron became dominant in Geneva, Switzerland.We conducted a population-based serosurvey between April 29 and June 9, 2022, recruiting children and adults of all ages from age-stratified random samples of the general population of Geneva, Switzerland. We tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using commercial immunoassays targeting either the spike (S) or nucleocapsid (N) protein, and for antibody neutralization capacity against different SARS-CoV-2 variants using a cell-free Spike trimer-ACE2 binding-based surrogate neutralization assay. We estimated seroprevalence and neutralization capacity using a Bayesian modeling framework accounting for the demographics, vaccination, and infection statuses of the Geneva population.Among the 2521 individuals included in the analysis, the estimated total antibodies seroprevalence was 93.8% (95% CrI 93.1-94.5), including 72.4% (70.0-74.7) for infection-induced antibodies. Estimates of neutralizing antibodies in a representative subsample (N = 1160) ranged from 79.5% (77.1-81.8) against the Alpha variant to 46.7% (43.0-50.4) against the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants. Despite having high seroprevalence of infection-induced antibodies (76.7% [69.7-83.0] for ages 0-5 years, 90.5% [86.5-94.1] for ages 6-11 years), children aged <12 years had substantially lower neutralizing activity than older participants, particularly against Omicron subvariants. Overall, vaccination was associated with higher neutralizing activity against pre-Omicron variants. Vaccine booster alongside recent infection was associated with higher neutralizing activity against Omicron subvariants.While most of the Geneva population has developed anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies through vaccination and/or infection, less than half has neutralizing activity against the currently circulating Omicron BA.5 subvariant. Hybrid immunity obtained through booster vaccination and infection confers the greatest neutralization capacity, including against Omicron.General Directorate of Health in Geneva canton, Private Foundation of the Geneva University Hospitals, European Commission ("CoVICIS" grant), and a private foundation advised by CARIGEST SA.